If you already know what is it like to dive and feel amazing zero gravity underwater and are interested in expanding your experience, you should consider liveaboard diving.
How is liveaboard diving differs from going to a dive center?
If comparing booking a daily dive with a dive center, a liveaboard trip is a whole other experience. Daily diving usually means that you book hotel accommodation and a package of several dives at the local dive shop. During your vacation, you do shore dives or go on day boat trips. And in this case, diving is just one of the many entertainments you will have during the day, which is good when you traveling with non-divers or want to explore the local town and visit the pubs and places to eat.
Liveaboard cruise is a dedicated trip and it is basically all in one – dives, accommodation, and full board.
The cruise can be from 4 to 21 days, so the bond you get with your dive buddies during this time is definitely special. Thank to the duration of the cruise you’ll explore more remote dive sites that can’t be reached on a day boat. A day full of exciting diving moments will be a good reason to gather in the evening with other boat guests on the sun deck watching the sunset and chatting about all the things you have seen today.
Whether you choose a diving center or a liveaboard cruise, both opportunities have their advantages, let’s dive into the advantages and facts about liveaboard diving!
Five advantages of choosing a liveaboard for your next scuba diving vacation
1. First to get up – first to dive
Some dive sites can be very crowded especially if it’s high season. Red Sea Marine Parks in Egypt, for example, can be often full as many of them are approachable from shore. For day boat anchoring can be rather difficult. But the liveaboard can be there already in the morning. Long-distance sailing often goes by night and in the morning you are ready to explore dive sites.
2. Smooth access to remote dive sites
Diving yachts are able to reach even the most remote dive spots. And this is one of the major advantages of this kind of diving. It’s easier and more comfortable access to distant dive sites and the time you would spend on a spot is longer than average.
Daily diving or so-called resort diving, limits divers from spending time in particular locations. Some distant dive sites are accessible within a diving trip, and cruising can take up to 3 hours each way. But long trips like this can be hard, and divers can get worn out even before the actual diving had started. It also takes more than 1-2 days to fully explore some locations like Socorro (Mexico) and the Galápagos Islands (Ecuador).
3. Liveaboard diving is simple and convenient
While diving with a dive center often means dragging heavy scuba equipment and tanks with you to the dive boat, ships facilitate this. Tank racks, back platforms, and ladders allow smooth entry to the water as well as the exit with heavy gear after diving. Scuba gear can be placed close to the water entry point. Sometimes zodiacs carry all the gear equipment. It’s often can be seen on Maldivian liveaboards. Divemasters and boat staff will take care of, filling your tank and rinsing all at the end of a day’s diving.
4. More time in the water!
With shore-based diving and day trips on boats, you can spend more time traveling from your hotel and the dive club to and from dive locations.
To save time, liveaboard routes are tailored so that the sailing goes at night or while you eat your breakfast or lunch. As a result, you can do up to 4 dives per day without feeling tired.
5. It’s a chance to get the most out of your vacation
Diving from a yacht is a great opportunity to enjoy time spent on the ocean or in the sea, and built better relationships with it by basically living on it! Sunsets and sunrise at sea are the to die for. And it’s also a great chance to encounter at night when sea creatures tend to act differently. It can be a truly remarkable experience. Night dives in the Maldives, for example, are exceptional.
Things to do before booking your liveaboard:
- Find out when dive season begins and what wildlife you can see there.
- Inspect and do maintenance on your scuba gear. And if it’s been a while since you went diving, it’s imperative to take a refresher dive course to recall the information you need when diving, so that you can be safe and have a good time.
- Be practical when you schedule the number of days for diving and traveling. How many days will you actually need?
- The cabin space may be small, so don’t take too much stuff with you.
- Get ready for an exciting trip! (And don’t forget motion sickness medication if you ever get seasick)
Diving from a yacht is a gateway to another style of diving and getting to know the ocean. Different divers are always looking for new environments and species to dive with. Fortunately, there are many types of liveaboards and many places you can access from a liveaboard ( reef or wreck diving in Indonesia, for example).
Divebooker has everything to help you set up your next liveaboard scuba vacation, and there are plenty of reviews about us at www.trustpilot.com
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